Bus to nowhere: Indian students sent back to bunker after failed Sumy evacuation

Indian university student Niranjana Santhosh was so close to being evacuated from the bombarded Ukrainian city of Sumy on Monday that she was sitting on a bus with her bags packed, waiting for the driver to start the engine.

But three hours later, she and dozens of other Indian students who had hoped to be ferried to a safer city, away from Russian attacks, received a WhatsApp message from the Indian embassy with devastating news.

A temporary ceasefire negotiated between Russia and Ukraine to allow civilians to flee four cities, including Sumy, had failed.